A portable electronic device can take many forms such as, for example, a tablet computing device along the lines of an iPad™, a portable communication device such as an iPhone™, or a portable media player, such as an iPod™ each manufactured by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. The small size of these devices requires that any on-board power supply, such as a battery, be relatively lightweight, small, and relatively inexpensive thereby limiting an amount of charge that can be stored and made available to operate the portable electronic device. Therefore, in order to maximize an amount of time that the portable electronic device can operate while powered by the battery, the power consumption of the portable electronic device must be optimized for current operating conditions. Optimization of power consumption is particularly important for those portable electronic devices having a display.
The display on the portable electronic device can be used to display visual content (such as an album cover, video, and so forth) related to items (such as songs or music) stored in the portable electronic device. The display can also assist in navigation and control of the portable electronic device by presenting visual aids such as a graphical human interface to a user. Unfortunately, however, depending upon the display technology, the display can consume a substantial amount of power when active. This is especially true of transmissive type displays (such as liquid crystal display, or LCD) that require an illumination source (also referred to as a backlight) that have a particularly high power demand. However, LCDs can be manufactured to be lightweight and thin, making them eminently well suited for use in small form factor portable electronic devices in spite of their high power requirements.
Therefore, a system, method, and apparatus for maintaining the ability of a user to interact with an electronic device are desired.